X-Message-Number: 11288
From: 
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 23:27:30 EST
Subject: methylsulfonylmethane

Perhaps you tend to wince when you see another health supplement book with the
word "miracle" in it. Maybe you tend to grimace when you see a health book
with lots of anecdotes or testimonials. Possibly you tend to be suspicious
when writers are mavericks who complain about the establishment (even though
the cryonics movement has its own complaints against the establishment). Me
too. Even so, I believe this new book is serious and deserving of attention.

The book is THE MIRACLE OF MSM: THE NATURAL SOLUTION FOR PAIN, by Stanley W.
Jacob, M.D.; Ronald M. Lawrence, M.D., Ph.D.; and Martin Zucker. Published by
Putnam, 1999.

Stanley Jacob is Professor of Surgery and director of the DMSO clinic at
Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. He also is (or was) a
cryobiologist on the side; I had some friendly correspondence with him thirty
years or so ago. Dr. Lawrence is a neurologist and a founding member of the
International Association for the Study of Pain and the American Association
for the Study of Headaches. Martin Zucker is an experienced health writer, and
presumably he did the actual writing, under the supervision of the doctors. 

The authors acknowledge that their opinions are based mainly on clinical
experience, but this experience is very extensive, involving thousands of
patients over many years. The book appears to contain, as references, only one
controlled study on humans and one on rodents.

I believe it is a legitimate complaint against the medical establishment that
evidence other than in controlled studies tends to be disregarded as
worthless. Both common sense and the historical record confirm the validity of
this complaint. To begin with, EVERY medical advance begins either with an
accidental observation or with a mere idea; NOTHING advances to the stage of
controlled studies until previous experience suggests the expense of further
investigation might be justified. Certainly anecdotal evidence must be viewed
warily, but it should not be dismissed out of hand. Most physicians take
seriously the reports of their patients.

One of the best known and well documented cases of long years of neglect of a
valuable prophylactic is that of vitamin E. Canadian physicians Wilfrid and
Evan Shute noticed, more than fifty years ago, that vitamin E is good for the
heart. Confirming reports by other physicians kept streaming in, but the
establishment refused to listen. It is only in recent years, as far as I
recall, that the controlled studies appeared in sufficient numbers and with
sufficiently influential authors to make the establishment take notice. In the
interim, probably millions of people died earlier than they might have with
vitamin E.  

Dr. Jacob has for many years been involved in a crusade to make available the
benefits of DMSO (dimethylsulfoxide). It is used in many places around the
world for treatment of arthritis, muscle and skeletal disorders, head and
spinal cord trauma, and other conditions. In the U.S. it has been approved by
the FDA only for treatment of interstitial cystitis. (Readers on this list
also remember that it is a well known cryoprotective agent.)

MSM--methylsulfonylmethane--is a metabolite of DMSO. Veterinarians have used
it for more than fifteen years. This book lays out the benefits observed in
patients using MSM, including relief of muscular or skeletal pain, reduction
of inflammation, improvement of blood circulation, reduction of muscle spasm,
and softening of scar tissue. Conditions in which patients benefited include
the main types of arthritis, muscle pain, tendinitis and bursitis, carpal
tunnel syndrome, chronic back pain, chronic headache, heartburn, sinusitis,
and fibromyalgia.

According to the authors, MSM is about as non-toxic as water, and is available
over the counter at health food stores. (I haven't checked ours yet.) The book
gives suggested dosages (of course with the usual disclaimers that this is not
individual medical advice and everyone should first check with his physician).

The authors also debunk a number of claims or assertions made by vendors
promoting MSM.

Those interested in buying the book can go to our web site; on the menu at the
bottom of the home page, click on "What to Read;" then click on the Amazon.com
logo at the bottom of that page (or on the book cover, if that is already
posted). The Immortalist Society will then get a small cut of the discounted
price. 

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society
http://www.cryonics.org

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